To mark the International Year of Biodiversity (www.iucn.org/iyb), the United Nations General Assembly is holding a high-level event on biodiversity on 22 September 2010, the eve of the opening of the general debate of its sixty-fifth session. This will be a unique opportunity to raise awareness of the global biodiversity crisis and the urgent need for stronger action to implement the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

IUCN, as the only international conservation organization with official UN observer status, will be taking a leading role in the events as they unfold.